Rumors from around the league

The St. Louis Blues are looking to continue their salary dump, The Sharks are looking to finalize new contracts, the Habs are in goalententer lala land, Gonchar’s days may be numbered in Pittsburgh , Jokinen waits to sign a new contract and a number of teams are shopping for defender depth

The St. Louis Blues have made a number of moves within the past 10 days to dump contracts and show respect for their quality aging veterans by moving them to winning teams. Mike Sillinger was moved to the Predators and Doug Weight was shipped off to the Hurricanes. Keith Tkachuk is likely the next move that the Blues are likely to make. A number of teams are already showing interest including the New York Rangers who are looking to add some scoring help because of the injury to Petr Prucha. Los Angeles and the Colorado Avalanche are also said to be interested in adding scoring depth to the lineup. The Blues are looking to rebuild their team through draft picks. It is speculated that they are asking for a top draft choice and a mid level prospect. Keep in mind that Tkachuk must first agree to any deal because of this no-trade clause.

Some of the other players that the Blues are looking to move include Eric Weinrich and Scott Young. It is believed that the Vancouver Canucks and the L.A. Kings are the front runners to acquire the rapidly aging Weinrich.

Another team that is on a loosing spiral, the Pittsburgh Penguins are also apparently looking to move some defensemen. The two names that they are looking to deal include Ric Jackman and Sergei Gonchar. The problem however with moving Gonchar is his ridiculously huge contract that stands somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 million per year. Non the less, the New York Rangers are apparently interested in making a deal to add some scoring to their d before the trade deadline.

The Montreal Canadiens are in the midst of a major goaltending controversy. With Jose Theodore riding the pine backup Christobal Huet has stepped it up with back to back shutouts. It is well known that the Canadiens are shopping Theodore along with his 4.5 million dollar contract. One rumor that has been making the rounds is that the Edmonton Oilers could be looking to shore up their goaltending position by offering up Mike Peca. Another suggestion is that Theodore could go to Anaheim straight up for JS Gigure.

In San Jose , the Sharks are close to resigning goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and Jon Cheechoo. By signing these players they are looking add some stability to the core of their team for years to come. Look for the Sharks to push for some defensive help in the next few weeks as they make a run for the last playoff spot out west.

Olli Jokinen has recently turned down a huge 16 million dollar four year contract. This is leading to speculation that he is wishing to be moved before the trade deadline only to re-sign with the Panthers in the offseason as an Unrestricted Free Agent. The team that is often mentioned as a possible candidate is the Ottawa Senators who may be looking to make a deal to keep pace with the Carolina Hurricanes. It was well known that the Senators were disappointed that they missed out on Doug Weight.

Here is a list of some of the defenseman that may be on the move this trade deadline season. Eric Weinrich, Jassen Cullimore, Brendan Witt, Andrei Zyuzin, Ric Jackman, Sergei Gonchar, Brian Leetch and Darryl, Sydor.

80 Responses to Rumors from around the league

Can’t blame Pleau for Al MacInnis’ retirement, and Chris Pronger’s unwillingness to restructure his contract. You can blame him for getting shafted in the Pronger deal, not bringing back Pavol Demitra, and passing up Curtis Joseph, whom if you acquired, you’d probably be in a position to make a playoff run right now.

St. Louis isn’t a horrible team, they do need a defender or two, and a better goaltender. Too many injuries plagued them, and I think if that wasn’t the case, they’d be fighting for that 8th spot, at least.

Hate to tell u this, not that that trade will happen, but Ottawa has the resources to make it happen. They have so many prospects they can give up to Florida, that Martin had a hand in drafting and might want back.

Pronger actually was willing to take less money to stay, but he wanted more than a year and Pleau wouldn’t do that. I agree a lot of it is injuries, but before even this year there was a lot he did wrong including always going for washed up goalies, and then getting rid of them as a scapegoat instead of the true problem of our d not doing thier job clearing the puck.

I think the main fault most blues fans blame him for is in the season of teams picking up free agents he sat by and not only didn’t sign any, but got rid of the most popular player, which would be why attendance sucks

Nabokov just signed a contract in SJ, I don’t find it likely that he will be moved any time soon.

Montreal and Edmonton trading Theo for Peca sounds to simple for it to actualy happen, and the fact that they share a farm team in Hamilton might actualy make a simple trade as such possible. It also solves the oliers woes, while get Montreal with the big centre that some many fans think we need. Then the middle would have Koivu, Ribs, Bonk, Begin, Hingins and an possibly Peca, which would mean we could expect one of the boys to be moved for a d-man. Sounds great, but I think this one is bordeline wet dream!

Another possible team included into the big movers are also the Islanders, and we could see them some significant talent pending how they fair over the next couple of weeks. We will see.

Hi Neely4Life I agree with you some what but I think that the Senators have a very good chance to aquire Garry Roberts and Olli Jokinen and if they aquire Garry Roberts and Olli Jokinen then they are ready for the cup because a two peices shy of the cup I think that Garry Roberts can bring them the cup to Ottawa.

honestly morrison is the problem this year… i dunno why people place the blame on bertuzzi hes playing well.. ne ways i would love to see morrison and either a mid level draft pick or a prospect sent to florida in return for olli jokinen.. doenst sound like he fits in in florida i mean think of this like naslund jokinen bertuzzi.

If any team actually trades for a Sergei Gonchar or Eric Weinrich before Darryl Sydor they are insane. Sydor has a lower salary and is an amazing leader by example. Why this guy is not a captain on some team I don’t know. The Rangers, should pick him up. Sydor is a winner and he would be a perfect fit in New York. The fans there would love him.

I agree you shouldn’t write off Theo. A bad half of a season is not the end. For example, Modano, he has had a great season. Two years ago, he was a minus 21 and, he only had 44 points on the season. So my point is, Theo is still young. He can and will bounce back. But Gonchar’s salary is the biggest reason people are writting him off. Forwards and Defensemen are never written off as early as Goalies. I Theo does get traded. Maybe to a team in the East. I know I don’t want the Stars facing him in the postseason.

Scott Young BLOWS! Man, are you insane? Scott Young is so overrated that the using the word overrated to describe him is an understatement! So in a sense, Scott Young is a walking oxymoron. Did I mention he BLOWS!

He’s not what he used to be, but he can still be a very versatile player for a team needing depth. Not going to score 40 goals again, but he can definitely score a few, and play on both the power play and the penalty kill.

Sydor would be an excellent fit in NY.. I could see him fitting right in with Poti, Tyutin or the checkers. Leetch isn’t coming back, it would go against the Ranger’s rebuilding strategy. Jokinen and Sydor might be the perfect two guys to grab right now. I wouldn’t mind giving up a lil for Jokinen before he hits free agency, even if it is just to rent him. He might be what we need w. Pruch out momentarily.

Poti would probably be going in return, Tyutin is definitely staying, and don’t even ask about Staal. Sydor would go against the rebuilding phase as well, but I like him as a two way defender, and Jokinen would be a GREAT fit here.

From what I have been reading on other sites, Tampa is trying to dump some salary and still stay in playoff contention. They want to keep Richards and if they can drop enough salary to be able to resign Richards this offseason and stay in the playoff hunt they would do it. But the only question is what could NY give up in return to get a player like Sydor.

How would adding Sydor be going against the rebuilding process. He would be a perfect mentor for Staal or Tyutin. He is a Two-time Champ and, a very smart, dedicated hockey player. The young guys can learn a lot about what it means to be part of a “team” and, Sydor would not demand a lot of salary. Every great team has a “glue” player or two that also produce. Sydor fits that bill. There is no denying that.